From Pancakes to Proms
by Baldore
Summary: Two best friends lives have settled into a normal routine of training to be Hunters. At least, as normal as life ever is at Beacon with Nora around. But when an annual traditional of Beacon's rolls around, how will these two cope with something even deadlier than the Emerald Forest? How will the students react to...prom night? Will they even survive until then?
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer; I only own my plots and original stuff in the story. Characters, Beacon, etc. all belong to RoosterTeeth._

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Chapter One; No Pancakes Are Safe...

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"No, absolutely not."

"C'mon, pleaaaaaaaaaaaaase! Please, please, please!"

"Nora."

"Ren!" She replied happily, seemingly oblivious to his frustrations.

"It's one o'clock in the morning..."

"Yup!"

"...and you want me to make pancakes." The Hunter in training sighed, rubbing sleep out of his eyes.

"Yup!" Nora nodded, orange hair bouncing up and down. Giving her best friend her 'puppy dog' face, making her eyes as but as Nora-ly possible and looking sad. And as much as Ren hated it, he subconsciously began debating giving in. Sensing his inner dilemma, Nora pressed her advantage. "Pleeeeease?"

"No."

"Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeedeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeasaaaaaaaaaaa-"

"Nora."

-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasssssssssssssssssssssseeeeeeeeeeeeeee?"

Rolling his eyes in resignation, Ren slung his legs out of his bed and got up. He knew giving in just encouraged her but he also knew that she wouldn't stop bothering him until he gave in to what she wanted. As he stretched out, he realized something. "Nora?"

"Hmmmmmmmmm?"

"How long have you been up?" He fixed his gaze on her realizing that she had been laying beside him...as she had pulled her bed from it's original position to next to his.

"'Bout an hour-ish, I've been practicing my Sloth noises." She answered popping out of bed, skipping after him towards the makeshift kitchen in Team JNPR's dorm. "Wanna hear? Ooooooor, how about a Gerbil? Wadda think a Gerbil sounds like? Maybe we should get one as team pet! Oh, oh! We could get a _pink_ Gerbil!"

"Nora, I still don't think Sloths, or Gerbils for that matter, make much noise. Nor do I think that our teammates would be happy with suddenly having a pink 'team mascot.' And did you happen to notice the beds?" Ren smiled inwardly as he gestured at the new living arrangements and retrieved the baking supplies necessary to concoct pancakes. After putting up with Nora's antics for so long, he'd almost grown used to them. Almost.

"Yup!"

"Did you do it?" He cut to the chase, simultaneously whisking the pancake batter.

"Yup!" Nora grinned. "It's like when we used to share a bed during those sleepovers as kids!"

"Nora, we've talked about this." Ren began to explain, once again, to the Hammer-Weilder basic social protocol. "Because we're both teenagers now, that means separate beds."

"Aaah," She pouted, not getting it (still) and (once again) missing the slight pink tinge to Ren's cheeks. After a few moments of dejected but careful contemplation, she pointed something out. "Technically the beds are still separate."

"No, Nora." Ren had finished the pancakes by now and served the steaming dishes on two plates. Handing one to Nora, he calmly sat cross legged on the floor and began eating his. "And don't touch the syrup, Juane's saving it."

"Aaaaaaah," She sighed, putting the container she'd been about to uncap back into the cubboard. Only slightly put off, she plopped down next to Ren and promptly began to wolf down pancakes. The circular pastries disappeared into Nora's mouth almost faster than even Ren's eye could track.

While she frantically consumed pancakes as if her life depended on it, the hunter calmly began his in a more civilized fashion and utilized the wonders of the fork. He'd barely began before he sensed a pair of eyes boring into him...or more specifically, his pancakes. A glance at his best friend confirmed his sixth sense's suspicion. Through some wondrous hidden ability linked to her sweet tooth, Ren was still convinced that she had to have a hollow leg, Nora had already managed to conquer the mountain of food that had previously occupied the now empty space of her plate.

With a small inward sigh, he slid the plate of pancakes over. When Nora didn't immediately start inhaling the plate's contents, he gave her a small smile. "Go on. I'm not hungry, anyway."

"Thanks, Ren!" She thanked him gratefully before eagerly consuming the second plate of pancakes. As he watched the amazing spectacle of a teenage girl putting away almost two dozen pancakes in a time that would make the most skilled 'speed-eater' green with envy, he once again contemplated just as to why he enabled her. Unfortunately she knew almost as well as he did, that he'd do most anything for the hyper-active, pink loving girl.

Heck, just look at the pink strip in his hair. He'd hardly done that voluntarily.

Jarring himself from his thoughts, Ren stood up, yawned, stretched and turned away from the table. Before he'd even taken two steps away, Nora stopped him.

"Whae 'ou gomin?" She said with her mouth full of pancake before the last remaining pancake disappeared and she swallowed. She frowned deeply, an action that Ren thought looked outright wrong own her normal jovial face, at the sight of Ren making tracks towards his place of sleep. Attempting to communicate her question once more, she asked again without food in her mouth. "Where are you going?"

"Nora, it's one o'clock in the morning. I'm going to bed," Ren stated, falling back into his bed. Sometimes, Nora just wore him out. If he didn't have- _'No, don't finish that thought,_' he mentally scolded himself. _'She's your best friend, nothing more_.'

"And move your bed back. This is why Juane and Pyrra don't want to leave us unsupervised."

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_Author's Note_; There's the first chapter! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it! (Hopefully, I didn't butcher Ren or Nora's characters...) I'll try to update this pretty soon but it isn't my first on-going story, so unless this gains wild popularity, you might have to bear with me until next the update. Until next time, Baldore out!


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer; I only own my plots and original stuff in the story. Characters, Beacon, etc. all belong to RoosterTeeth._

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Chapter Two; Having a ball.

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"She did what?" Jaune chuckled at his friend's past dilemma. "I'd say that you're exaggerating but I know Nora."

"Unfortunately," Ren muttered. He was a little cranky since after the pancake incident, since after that he'd been woken up yet again by his partner. Or rather, his partner's newest acquisition. "Sometimes I wonder if she sleeps. Or if she's a robot."

Both occupants of the Beacon lunch table shared a shudder, thinking of Penny, before feeling immediately guilty. She_ had_ saved their butts. But she was just a little...off. As if she didn't picl up on any social ques. All in all though, any Team RWBY or Team JNPR members would admit that she was their friend despite her quirks.

"No," Jaune pointed out, absently playing with his food, rolling peas around with his fork. "We know what androids are like. Nora's human. Speaking of her, where did she and Pyrra go?"

"Shopping with Team RWBY." Ren stated, actually slightly missing his orange haired friend. "Ruby decided to have a 'Girl's night'. Yang enforced it and Weiss is funding it.I think Penny might be tagging along to."

"Ah..." Jaune smiled. "Oh, and you never did exactly explain what _did_ happen to the dorm room?"

"Remember what I said about a Gerbil? Well, just leave it at the fact that they don't like it when certain JNPR members try and dye them pink." The green clad warrior stated, expression not giving anything away. "And explosive Dust canisters don't help."

Jaune's eyes widened slightly. "And what happened to the Gerbil? Did it live? For that matter, where'd Nora get a Gerbil at two in the morning?"

"I don't even want to know," He replied. "And I had to donate it to a local pet store."

"Vale has a pet store?"

"Apparently."

"Huh," JNPR's leader mused. Well, he never...

"So how was training last night?" Ren inquired. "You look beat."

Jaune groaned, planting his face on his hands. "You have no idea. Why do you think we didn't get back until almost three? Pyrra had me training all night. I think she's mad at me for something."

"Hm...what'd you do?"

"Nothing! Absolutely _nothing_! Everything was peachy, nothing wrong then, Boom! Training 'till three!" Jaune complained.

"Hmmm," Ren said again cryptically. "Maybe she's just kicking up your training."

"No, she had fury in her green eyes, Ren. Unadulterated _Fury_." The blond disagreed, frantically shaking his eyes. "It was probably the scariest thing I've ever been through. I was scared for my life!"

Ren shrugged at his nearly hysteric friend. "Scarier than when you were standing between Ruby and that plate chocolate chip cookies?"

Jaune nodded, eyeswide.

Ren raised an eyebrow. It must have been serious then...suddenly his sixth sense warned him of a presence behind him. Spinning, he brought out Storm Flower and aimed it at...

Sky Lark.

The other Beacon student rapidly back-pedaled as Ren calmly snapped the SMG back into its hiding spot in his sleeve. Then he calmly turned back to Juan and sat down once more, motioning for Lark to sit beside him.

The CRDL member accepted, plopping down in the offered seat. Sky's friendship with Teams RWBY and JNPR was a rather recent development. After the whole situation in the Forever Falls, all the CRDL members apologized for their actions (even Cardin, though he was bitter about it) and they thee teams became fast friends. Out of all them, Sky seemed to be the one to drop by the most and the friendliest of the lot.

"Hey, mates," He smiled nervously, keeping an eye on Ren's sleeves. The blades on that thing was wicked. "What's goin' on?"

"Nothing," Ren supplied unhelpfully.

"Riiight," Lark said. "So, have you guys heard the news?"

"What news?" Jaune asked, snapping out of his reverie.

"I'll take that as a _no_," He grinned. "What do you his know of Beacon's traditions?"

"They drop the recruits into a forest full of deadly Grimm and hope they live," Ren said dryly. "I'm not sure I WANT to know other traditions."

"Ah, c'mon! This one is good!"

Neither Ren nor Jaune looked excited.

"You guys want to guess?"

Several seconds passed with only a shrug from Jaune.

"Fine," Sky sighed at the killjoys. "Beacon Academy is having. . ."

"Are you going to tell us, Lark?" Ren asked impatiently.

"It was a dramatic pause, Lie," He shot back. "Beacon academy is having...a Ball!"

"Like a good time?" Jaune asked, confusion clear on his face.

"No, no, no," Lark shook his back and forth on rapid succession. "A ball! You know? A dance? Prom? Haven't you been to one before?"

"No." Ren commented.

"Nope," Jaune agreed. "What's the point?"

"Eh, well..." Sky scratched his head. "To have fun, I guess. You guys seriously have never been to a Ball before?" He got blank faves in response. "Jeez, mates. That's just sad. So who are you taking?"

"Taking?"

"Yeah, who are you going with?" Sky just got more blank looks. "You know, a date? I assume that Ren's taking Nora, cuz they're dating and all-"

"We're not dating, Lark." Ren corrected. "Best friends, not dating."

"Uh-huh," Sky grinned patronizingly. "But if you go, you'll go with her right?"

"Probably," Ren conceded.

"See? You're practically dating already." Before the other could respond, Sky turned to Jaune. "How about you? Taking Pyrrha?"

Jaune choked on his glass of milk and began sputtering for breath. "Say what?!"

"You can't seriously say that you've misused everything. She is obviously into you, Juane." Sky looked genuinely surprised he didn't know. "So are you going to ask her? It _is_ tradition for the guy to ask the girl."

As said guy turned the color of said lady's hair, Ren butted in to save his team leader. "And what about you, Lark? Who are you taking?"

"Velvet," He beamed, a huge smile plastered on his face. "I'm taking Velvet."

"Really?" Now it was Ren's turn to be surprised, that surprise showing through an arched eyebrow. "She agreed to go with you?"

"Ah, well...not exactly," The Hunter-in-training's face fell. "I haven't asked her yet. You don't think she'll accept?"

"She might," Ren said after careful consideration. "Why Velvet? I thought you hated Faunas."

The would be suitor shook his head. "No, I was just following my team leader, if you're referring to the bullying. Cardin...he had a bad experience with a Faunus as a kid. After a while, we finally had enough and had a long talk with Cardin and convinced him that Faunas are bad."

"Took you long enough," Jaune snorted. "And what was Cardin's 'bad experience'?"

"Yeah, your performance in the Forever Forest helped spur us into action. " Lark admitted before becoming slightly uncomfterable. "And you'd have to ask him about that. Anyway, after that, I apologized to anybody that we bullied. I made up with Velvet and we're on good terms. . . Do you think she'd agree to go with me?"

"Well, if you want to find out, you might want to hurry," Ren motioned to a certain Faunus about to exit the dining hall.

"Wha...?-oh, thanks!" Lark spotted her and frantically, and not real gracefully, hopped out his chair and ran out after her.

Juane turned to Ren as Lark disappeared. "Thanks, Ren. I owe you one. But can I ask you something?"

He nodded.

"Do you like Nora?"

"No, we're friends," Ren stated before countering with his own question. "Do you like Pyrrha?"

"Maybe," Jaune admitted. "But she deserves better."

"Or maybe, if Lark is correct, Pyrrha likes you for a reason," Ren stated, before glancing at his watch and gathering his trash. As Jaune moved to follow him, he pointed something. "Maybe that's why she was upset with you."

"Ah, crap."

As the two male JNPR members threw out their trash, contemplated their conversation and headed out, Juane had one last question for his teammate.

"Who knew Beacon had a Prom?"

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Author's note; Here's chapter two! Yeah, I know, I said it would be a while but I got enough favorites and follows to encourage me to update it already. So, thanks everybody! I really appreciate it! Oh, and as for Sky Lark's appearance, I wanted to include a charactering the show but had little to no development in the show. For all I know, they'll make him a jerk in season two but this is a fanfic. And, if you want to see something in this story or a future sequel, just tell me and I'll take it into account. So thanks and until next time, Baldore out!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three; Do You Ever Wonder Why We're Here...?

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"So, why exactly are we shopping?" Blake asked, strait to the point. Honestly, she'd rather be back at Beacon, reading but a certain team leader insisted that the ENTIRE team came, regardless of whether they wanted to or not.

"Becaaaaaaaaause," Nora drew out the two syllable word until it was at least ten. "...Well, I don't actually know. I just wanted to go shopping! Soooooooooo, why are we? Huh, huh? Whyyyyyyy?"

Pyrrha sighed, maybe bringing Nora along without her Handler slash best friend was a bad idea. At least Ren could get her calmed down enough that she wasn't bouncing off the walls, both figuratively and literally. "Nora-"

"Aaaah, come on, Pyrrha, you know that you're curious too!" The orange haired girl giggled, somehow having climbed a light post and start hanging upside down from it before anybody else had noticed.

"I am very excited to be having a 'Girl's Night'!" Penny exclaimed happily, cutting into the conversation.

"Er...Penny, we're just shopping. You know that right?" Yang asked, awkwardly rubbing her long yellow locks.

"Oh." Her face fell before brightening. "But this shopping sounds like an enjoyable activity too!"

"Right. . ." Blake muttered, obviously still not sold on the whole idea. And she still didn't know why the were even doing this.

"Ruby, I think you've kept us in the dark for long enough." Weiss sighed, tapping her foot impatiently. "Why did you insist on a sudden shopping trip?"

"Pyrrha knows!" RWBY's leader announced cheerfully.

"I do?"

"Yup!"

"Ruby, I have no idea. You're the one who rounded us all up and brought us shopping."

"But you know _why_!" Ruby grinned.

"What-oh." The truth dawned on Pyrrha.

"What? What is it?" Weiss demanded angrily.

"We're shopping for Prom!" Ruby clapped giddily at her announcement.

"Prom?" Yang's eyes lit up but not like when she was using her Semblance. More of a 'Holy Dust, this is going to be amazing!' sort of way "We've got a Prom at Beacon? Since when?"

"Apparently it's an 'annual Beacon tradition'," Pyrrha put the last part in quotations using her fingers.

Nora flipped back down, landing perfectly on her feet. "Oooooh, is that why you tried to kill Juane last night in your training session? Cause you guys didn't get back till like three! You missed Ren's pancakes! And-"

"Nora, calm down," Blake sighed before addressing Pyrrha. "And you tried to kill Juane?"

"No, I didn't try to kill him exactly," Pyrrha said turning red from embarrassment. "I was just frustrated."

"About the prom?"

A nod.

"Does he know about this prom?" Yang laughed, obviously relishing the new opportunity for teasing.

A shrug.

"So then maybe you shouldn't have beat him 'till he was black and blue."

"Anyway," Pyrrha said, frantically trying to change the subject. "What does this Prom have to do with us shopping?"

"We're dress shopping! Yay!" Ruby beamed.

"Oh, goody!" Penny exclaimed, high fiving Ruby.

"Oh, joy," Weiss reaction was the polar opposite of the android's, Sarcasm thickly lacing her comment. "We get to dress shop. I'm good."

"Ah, come on, Weiss!" Ruby whined. "It'll be fun!"

"No, you think I needs dress?" She snorted. "What do you think I'm wearing."

"Aaah, don't be such a buzz kill, Weiss," Yang exclaimed, grabbing her arm and preventing her from leaving. "My sis does have a point. This could be fun!"

"Yeah, let's split into groups and go adventuring!" Nora cheered, extending out Magnhild. "First one to kill a Nevermore wins!"

"Nora, dress shopping, not Grimm hunting." Blake informed her.

"Aaaaaah, what?"

"Dress shopping." Penny said. "Trying on and the eventual purchase of a dress for the event known as prom."

"Aaaaaah," Nora grumbled. "No Grimm?"

"No Grimm."

"Dang it. But I guess dress shopping is the next best thing." Nora sighed, in a rather rare moment for her, actually looking sad. Then she lit up again. "Maybe there'll be a Grimm attack!"

"Maybe," Pyrrha agreed, realizing that it was just better to agree in the long run. "But we could split up. Divide and conquer, meet back her afterwards."

"Sure," Yang agreed. "Groups?"

"Hoooooow abooooooout, Pyrrha, Ruby and and me versus Penny, Weiss, Blake and Yaaaaang?" Nora suggested, reluctantly stashing Magnhild.

"Oh, delightful idea!" Penny quickly started dragging off her victims, er, group off to their task.

"Well, let's go!" Nora announced, bouncing away with the Ruby and Pyrrha in tow.

"And Nora, you do realize this isn't a 'versus', right?" Pyrrha asked.

"Aaaaaaaah, what?"

* * *

"-and then the entire Dust store exploded violently!" Nora recounted a rather significantly embellished tale, happy noting that Ren wasn't there to correct her. The frowning, remembering that Ren wasn't there. Sighing, her story trailed off.

"Nora, you okay?" Pyrrha asked, realizing that whatever story Nora was telling trailed off.

"Yup! I was just wondering where Ren was! 'Cause we've been friends since childhood and been together since a looooong time ago." She rambled, as par second nature to her. "But not together together, just together. You know as friends!"

"Is that how you want to be together though?" Pyrrha asked, the quastion transforming Norra's face into a mask of thought.

"Who's together?" Ruby interupted, exiting the changing room in a deep sapphire dress. "And how do I look?"

"Ren and Nora, though not as a couple," Pyrra exclaimed before smiling. "And you look great! Though it's blue. I thought you only owned red."

"I do but I wanted to branch out!" She happily examined herself in the mirror before frowning. "But you're right, I look better in red!"

"Wait, that's not what I-" Pyrrha started but the other girl was already gone, just a few floating rosé petals where shed been moments before. "-meant."

"...and then Ren's hair was pink!" Nora finished proudly, she'd apparently answered her question, or avoided it, and started a new story while Pyrrha had been preoccupied with Ruby.

"Wait, what?" Pyrrha looked confused at that, not realizing Valkyrie was even telling another story. And about Ren's pink stripe, too. Though she'd always wondered how he'd gotten that. "Could you start over from the beginning?"

"Sure!" Came the chipper response. "Nora!"

"What?"

"That's my name!"

"But what does have to do with the story?"

"Nothing! You wanted to start over from the beginning, remember?"

"No, no, with the story."

"You sure that's what you meant?" Nora squinted. Pyrrha knew the other girl was extremely bright but sometimes she made Pyrrha wonder if there was some hidden punch line that she'd missed.

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Are you sure you're not Lie-ing?"

"...you did that all on purpose, didn't you?"

"Yup! I do all the time to Ren but he can predict it now," Nora pouted. "Ren's a ninja like that, right? One time as kids, he got in a fight and-"

"Ren got in a fight?" Pyrrha was surprised. Ren never started fights.

"Yup! Or no. Kinda," Nora decided, not seeming to want to give a strait answer. "We were outside playing and this mean kid came and I didn't like him, so I told him so. He called me some names and pushed me down. Ren jumped in and pushed him back. Both of them got in trouble but Ren said that I didn't do anything and the teacher took his word for it, since he's the perfect student and all. . ."

As Nora finished her story, the two of them fell into a quiet silence. Pyrrha noted that the story lacked Nora's usual ridiculous embellishment and the hyperactive girl was deep in thought after the recounting of the tale. Pyrrha left her to her thoughts as her own thoughts drifted to a certain team leader. A certain DENSE team leader.

How could Jaune flirt so much and yet miss that maybe someone actually liked him back? How could he ignore any and all the hints?

Oh Dust, he was just so dang dense!

Suddenly Ruby yanked Pyrrha out of her thoughts. "How about this one?"

Said dress was as red Crescant Rose, slightly to princessy for Pyrrha's taste and lined with black and pink. It even was dotted with roses that looked shockingly similar to the Rose family crest. While Pyrrha would never of worn the thing, Ruby pulled it off. "I love it! Back in red, huh?"

"Yup!" The girl chirped, the very color seemingly making her happy.

"Dibs on that pink dress!" Nora suddenly shouted, the abruptness of the exclamation shocking both Ruby out of their conversation. However the pink loving girl was gone before anybody had a chance to ask what dress she meant, or what she meant in general.

Staring at the spot that Nora previously occupied, Pyrrha spoke.

"Jeez. Ren's got his work cut out for him."

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_Author's Note;_ Hey, as always thanks for all the support you guys have given me, you have no idea how it's helped! Okay, first, thanks for all of those who caught the multitude of mistakes from my last chapter, I really appreciate it and all of the mistakes have been corrected. Second, due to this story's (relative) popularity, it's going to be longer than originally planned...Anyway, thanks again, and until next update, Baldore out!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4; Angst and Advice

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"Nora," Ren stated back, as calm as she was hyper. "Good to know you haven't forgotten my name."

"Right!" She chirped happily before grinning. "Hey, hey, hey, Ren, guess what?"

"What?" He asked, humoring his partner. While it might seem that he was simply humoring her, since most of his attention appeared to be focused on cleaning his weapon. But that was actually wrong. He'd simply grown used to multitasking when he was holding a conversation with Nora. He might not appear to but in fact, he loved simply enjoying hearing her babble about whatever interested her, concerned her, excited her, frustrated her, infuriated her or simply caught her eye. If whatever it was did any of those, Ren knew he'd hear about it.

"C'mon, Ren! Guess!" She spoke sang, skipping circles around the table that he was calmly cleaning StormFlower at.

"We're going to a training mission in the Opal Outskirts for a training session tomorrow?" He phrased it like a question but he knew that it was true. The Opal Outskirts, an area that contained several cliffs, a dense forest, a complex cave system and a rather serious Grimm infestation was indeed their next field trip destination.

"Yup!" Nora cheerfully confirmed, as if somehow he had completely missed the announcement. "But do you know what were gonna be doing?"

"No idea, Nora."

"We're gonna be collecting Dust Crystals!" She bobbed her head. "It's not as tasty as that sap from Forever Fall but it'll still be fun! Maybe we could get a pink Dust crystal that they'll let us keep! Wouldn't that be awesome? Ooooh, I wonder what pink dust does...? Red's lightning, right? And White's like, kinetic force. I wonder...? Cuz Magnhild's dust appears pink but we both know it's colored White Dust. . ."

Ren stopped her there, knowing how off topic they'd get if she rambled. "Wait, they're just letting us mine Dust?" Normally, he'd already know this but he'd had to miss a day of class since the Beacon nurse _insisted_ that she check that his wounds from the Deathstalker had healed correctly.

"Yeah! Weeelll, not mine, but collecting," Nora nodded eagerly, orange hair bobbing. "Professor Peach says that the Opal Outskirts aren't very potent so big companies like the Schnee Dust Corporation don't bother with them but they make great training. Oh! She also said that if we collected enough, students might get to keep some! Wouldn't that be awesome?"

"That would be," Ren agreed. "What's up, Lark?"

The blue haired boy jumped at Ren suddenly addressing him, as he'd been approaching the table quietly as to not interrupt. And he hadn't even turned around! Cautiously he took a seat at the table and Nora stopped her skipping to do the same. "I've got a problem, dude..."

"What?" Ren asked calmly snapping StormFlower's pieces back into place and stashed the weapons back into his sleeves.

"Well, you remember several days back?" He asked, nervously wringing his hands. "You know, when ya and the Arc kid helped me out?"

Ren nodded and Nora looked confused, as she hadn't been there, and Sky continued. "Well, I got a problem with Velvet..."

"Break her legs!" Nora chipped in so suddenly that it made the other two doubt whether she understood the situation. Or who they were even talking about.

"It's not a bully problem, Nora." Ren sighed. "Different kind of problem."

"Aaaaaaah," Nora looked disappointed that her suggestion had fallen through again and Sky subtly shifted away from her. He valued his life...and his legs.

"So what happened, Lark?" Ren asked. From the CRDL's member dejected expression, he thought he knew the gist of it.

"She turned me down." Sky hurried his face in his hands after admitting that.

Lights lit up in Nora's eyes and she giggled maniacally. "You liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiike her!"

Sky's face then proceeded to get buried even further into his hands. "So what if I do, mate? Dove already is teasing me endlessly 'bout it. You'd think he'd give his partner his break, wouldn'tcha?"

"What happened?" The calmer of the two present JNPR members asked.

"So, I caught up to her in the lunchroom, right? And we made some small talk for a bit, 'bout Oobleck and Port's classes...that kinda thing," Sky mumbled from his self inflicted prison that at this point was him face down with both hands on his head. "Finally, I worked up the courage to ask 'er 'bout maybe goin' to da dance with me..."

"And?" Ren prodded after a second. Nora was unusually quiet, a look plastered over her face that Ren recognized as the 'deep in thought, oblivious to the world' look. After a second she snapped out of it and quietly, something extremely off for her, said she had to go find Pyrrha. Ren nodded, ignored a pang in his stomach as she left and turned back to Lark.

"She said...she said 'I'll think about it'," Sky moaned in despair. "What'm I gonna do, mate? I totally blew it!"

Ren arched an eyebrow. "That's it?"

"Wadda ya mean, 'that's it?' She probably hates me!" Sky stated matter of factly, leaving his cozy of protection under his arms. Then a wave of horror passed over his face. "She does, doesn't she? I mean, she's got every right to, after how I was...oh, Dust. I shouldn'tve done all that stuff to 'er! I mean, I knew that before but...She hates me! She-"

After dealing with Nora for so long, Ren knew when to cut off a rambling rant before it got to bad. "You didn't blow it, Lark."

"I did, mate!" The CRDL member frantically shook his head. "Blew it!"

"She didn't turn you down, did she?"

A nod of conformation followed by a look of realization.

"Then she doesn't hate you," Ren reasoned calmly. "And there's still another two weeks or so until Prom night, correct?"

Another nod.

"Want my advice?" Ren waited for another nod before continuing. "Give it time and don't pressure her. Spend some free time with her, get to know each other some more. Once prom gets a little closer, ask her again. Maybe you'll get a different answer this time."

Sky smiled at this, logic regaining control over his panic. "Maybe you're right, mate! Thanks, Lie!"

As Ren nodded in return, another Beacon student walked over to the outdoor table they were seated at. The Faunas, for it happened to be the subject of the conversation held seconds earlier, smiled politely at them.

"Would you mind if I sat here too?" Velvet asked shy, brushing a lock of brown hair out of her eyes.

"No, go ahead." Ren said standing. "I was about to go find Nora, anyway. So I'll leave you two to it."

As he walked away, Sky caught his eye with a grateful smile and a mouthed 'thanks'. Ren returned the motion with a rare small smile of his own before heading out to find his partner. As it turned out, he didn't have to go far before she found him.

"Ren, Ren! Reeeeeeeen!" She grinned, happily falling into step beside him. "I found Pyrrha but she was busy. She and Jaune were training up on the roof again. Probably getting more practice in before the trip. It seems like a good idea. Maybe we should get more training too. Or maybe not. I dunno. Whadda you think, Ren?"

"I think we're good." Ren said simply. They spent most of their time training already.

"Hey, Ren?" Nora asked. The question sounded jus as chipper as every other time she asked it in the day but he detected a small trace of something hiding underneath.

"Yes, Nora?"

"How long have you been giving relationship advice out?"

"Well," While no one except for Nora would notice, the question threw him off. He had known shed listened in on the beginning of his and Lark's conversation but the question still caught him off guard. "Just for Lark, actually. He came to Jaune and I one day when you, Pyrrha and Team RWBY were out dress shopping. Why?"

"Because you've never had a girlfriend yourself, have you?" Nora asked even though they both knew the answer.

"No."

And that's what lead to the first awkward silence between Rem and Nora to their memories. Sure, they'd had silences between then before but they had always been comfterrable between the two friends. But this one was thick with tension, as if some question that they both wanted to ask hung just under the surface. A question that they both hoped, feared, dreaded and anticipated to be asked.

When it wasn't, they both stayed silent for several seconds longer.

Then Nora broke the silence, shattering the awkward tension as if had never existed in the first place. "So you wanna go to the dance together? Not together together but together. I've got a pretty dress and its going to be so much fun! Oh! Maybe we should get a signal..."

Ren shoved aside the jumpy feeling he felt at the thought of being together together with Nora and smiled. "I don't think we need a signal for it, Nora."

"Ahhhhhhhh," Nora groaned in disappointment. "Signal's make everything better."

Ren sighed, knowing he shouldn't give in. "How about you make a signal for tomorrow's mission?"

Nora's squeal of joy could probably be heard from Professor Port's room on the other side of Beacon.

* * *

_Author's Note_; Simply said, you guys astound me. I planned for this to be a short story, max of three chaps, and now it looks to be at least six. So thanks for all your support! Also, Sky's entrance was actually put into this chapter since I got an awesome review concerning his characterization. Which brings me to the point that thank you guys for all the awesome reviews, they just make my day. Finally, I created the Opal Outskirts, since I didn't want to use the Emerald Forest or Forever Fall simply because they've been used a lot...Okay, sorry for rambling, Baldore out!

Edit: Thanks to Nixta for keeping me accountable on spelling. This should've been edited a little more...so sorry, guys..


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five; The Past and the Present

* * *

"-and whatever you do, do not touch the black trees," Professor Peach finished sternly as Professor Port triple checked that everyone was onboard and properly prepared for the field trip. Peach nodded to Professor Port, signaling that he could take over.

"Yes, yes, thank you," The portly man said as his colleague sat down and the ship took off headed for the Opal Outskirts. "Now, as you all know, this trip is for training and educational purposes. This means that you must follow all of our instructions and guidelines..."

Ren and Nora both nodded along with the rest of the students, all eager to get started. They'd all been allowed to choose their own partner for this particular excursion (the professor had made it abundantly clear that they must choose wisely and that they should still stay at least within eyesight of another two Hunters-in-training) and the idea had some students more than a bit excited.

Most students had stuck with their partners, including Ren and Nora, Juane and Pyrrha, Cardin and Russel but others hadn't. Ruby had coerced Yang into a partnership, leaving Blake stuck with Weiss and Velvet had agreed to work with Sky. Since the different pairings were bound to cause trouble and their destination was so dangerous, Ozpin had not one, not two, not three but four professors escorting the group. Glynda Goodwhitch was in charge, assisted by Professor Port, Professor Oobleck and Professor Peach.

Just as the first light snores could be heard, Professor Port finally began wrapping up his speech. "With that in mind, future Hunters and Huntresses, I advice you to be on you guard at all times and never let you mind waved from your task at hand."

"Oh yes," Port said jollily after a short pause, appearing to suddenly remember something. "I also need to see Lie Ren once we land."

With that slightly ominous like, Port took his seat and began speaking with Oobleck as the airship descended into conversations between the students. Nora, unsurprisingly, immediately began talking to Ren.

"Ren! Why does Port want to see you? Did you do something wrong? Ooooooh, did you break the rules? No, you're the good student. Besides you would've told me, right? I mean, we're best friends! And best friends tell each other everything! Especially us since we've been friends for so long!" Nora grinned happily, before glancing out the window. "Ohhhhhh! It's a bird!"

Ren smiled and shook his head slightly in mirth.

"You know what it looks like?"

"A sloth?"

"Oooooooh, you're right!" Nora exclaimed. "It's a flying sloth! Thoooooough, it's really fast for a sloth, you know. . ."

Nora slowly trailed off the thought and her head plopped onto his shoulder. Raising his eyebrow, Ren glanced at her before stifling a laugh. The hyperactive girl had fallen asleep mid rant.

He gently ruffled her orange hair as she snuggled closer to him, grabbing his arm in her sleep. As she did, Ren slowly began mulling of their relationship until the finally arrived at the Opal Outskirts.

"Lie Ren," Professor announced true to his word, at the moment the ship touched down.

Said student quickly shook his partner gently awake before heading to Port. The man greeted him warmly as he placed his blunderbuss axe hybrid (_'BlunderAxe_?' Ren thought curiously.) on his back. The professor held Ren back as the other teachers unloaded the other students, until the airship was suddenly empty, save the two of them.

"Now, Ren," Port started, staring intensely at the young man. "Do you know why I've pulled you aside?"

"No, sir."

"Ha, good answer, good answer," The man's bushy grey eyebrows bounced up and down in time with Port's booming laughter. "Our wonderful school nurse asked me to check your injuries before allowing you to continue. I believe that such a strong student such as yourself is already fully recovered from those minor injuries but she did insist. So, how do you feel, my boy?"

"I'm fine, sir." Ren said, rather confused at why his professor had made such a fuss about something so small. "Excuse me, Professor, but may I ask something?"

"Of course!" Port replied in his never dampening jovial way. "Ask away!"

"Why did you pull me aside for something so. . .trivial?" Ren asked tentatively.

"A good question!" Port beamed proudly. "There was something else I wished to discuss with you, Mr. Lie. You and your partner are close, right?"

Ren nodded, not sure where Professor Port was headed.

"Well, I just wanted to tell you a story." Port started, not catching Ren's look of dread. "There was once a strapping young man and a beautiful woman."

Ren resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Once again, it appeared that the professor was tell one of his life stories again. But who was the woman. . . ?

"These two youngsters both attended an academy that taught young students to fight the creatures of Grimm. A place known as Beacon." Port fixed Ren with an intense stare. "They were both extremely promising students and as partners, they grew quite close."

"Then the inevitable happened," The professor's voice nearly cracked for a second before regaining its jovial tone. "They fell in love. The two of them fell hopelessly, head over heels in love with each other. Yet it wasn't as happy as it sounds."

"Neither of them wanted to risk their friendship and they were both afraid the other didn't feel the same way. So, day after day, week after week, they both suffered in silence over the feelings." Port told the student, woe creeping into his voice. "And then, it got worse."

"One day, the two and the rest of their team went on a mission. A routine one at that, clear some Beowolves that were attacking some small town. However, things went wrong." Ren listened quietly to Port's story, concerned as to we're if was heading. "The Beowolves seemed endless that day."

"The Hunters and Huntresses were forced to retreat. Except for two of them. Two, the man and the women, stayed behind to buy their friends and the townspeople time to retreat. They succeeded but at a horrible cost. A terrible, terrible cost."

"During the retreat, the woman had suffered a wound. A fatal one, and it couldn't be healed." Port was trying to keep his composure, seemingly his mind had been transported back to that fateful day. "She was dying. And her partner couldn't do anything about it."

"The man had to stand by, not able to do anything but hold her hand as the woman he loved died. And right before she finally succumbed, he was able to do one last thing." The professor had dropped any pretense that he'd not been the man in the story. "Before she died, she grabbed my hand, met my eyes, smiled and said one last sentence."

"'I love you.'"

A solitary tear fell down Peter Port's cheek and landed on the ground with a small plop, the only sound penetrating the silence. Ren strode there awkwardly, realizing the story was over.

He'd always known that Professor Port was strong and wise. Ren had had immense amounts of respect for the man, even with his stories. He'd just never realized. . .he'd never realized the loss the older man had endured.

Port composed himself after a second and sighed. "Do you understand, Mister Lie?"

"I'm afraid I don't, sir," Ren answered honestly, feeling rather rude. "While I appreciate the sentiment, why tell me the story?"

Port somehow managed to smile sadly, proudly and hopefully at the young man all at the same time. "Mr. Lie, all stories have a moral to them. I'm sure you understand this one's, whether you admit it or not."

"But. . ."

"Mr. Lie, if you refuse to admit that you _do_ know the point that I'm trying to make, then I'll at least give you this. Don't let fear keep you from your happiness." Professor Port nodded at him.

"Right, thank you, sir." Ren said, still not quite grasping what he was getting at.

"You know more than you're admitting. Just learn from my mistakes, my boy." The jovial tone had returned in full and he clapped Ren on the back. "Now go get prepared for the Outskirts. You and your partner are in for a tough day."

"Yessir," Ren smiled at the professor's words and story. He understood it but what was he trying to say. . . ? As the student exited the airship, he looked back at his Professor. "And thank you, sir."

"Excuse me-holy crap!" Sky's yelp of fear was evident when one of Magnhilde's explosive canisters flew over his head before disappearing into the mist of the Opal Outskirts. The airship transporting the Beacon students had landed a bit ways away from the deadly forest but even from the distance, the mist still slowly seeped out of the forest like some deadly tendrils of a Grimm. All the students were itching to get going but they weren't allowed to start until Professor Port and Ren were outside too.

And as such, Sky had gone to ask Nora why Ren was inside the ship as Velvet had excused herself to speak to her team. Yet for whatever reason, when Sky had gone to talk to Nora, he'd gotten an explosive launched at highs velocity at his head. "Woah, mate! What was that for?!"

"You jerk!" Nora lined another shot at the blue haired CRDL member. She wasnt quite convinced of CRDL's reformation.

"What?!"

"Why would you bully people like that and then just expect everybody to forget about it?" The orange haired goal still had her grenade launcher aimed at him but didn't fire. "Maybe I should've broken _your_ legs."

However, blue haired boy hung his head in shame and sat down on the ground by the airship. "I know."

"Yeah, you do! Waaaaaait, say what?"

"I know I shouldn't have done what I did." Lark sighed. "I fell into the peer pressure and then I just expected my apology to be accepted. I hurt the Faunas with my actions and...Velvet. I know, I just. . . I don't know what to do."

Nora downed for a split second before it was replaced with her normal happy demeanor and she put her weapon away. She was still a little hesitant but Ren HAD told her to give the kid a shot. So she plopped beside him. "Well, you acted like a real jerk-wad, you know. And I don't like jerk-wads. While I'd like to break your legs. . ." She grinned as he shifted nervously. "Buuuuuuuuuut, Ren wouldn't be happy if I did. So you're safe. . . For now."

"Thanks, mate," Sky sighed in relief. "So, is Lie out yet?"

"No, why?" Nora asked suspiciously. "Why'd you need Ren?"

"I was just wondering why he had to go talk to Port. Any idea on why?"

"I dunno, not something bad. Because he's such a good student. He never does anything wrong, ever. Well, unless I drag him into it. Then he might. But he's the perfect student. And I mean perfect." Nora rambled, forgetting that someone was actually listening. "He's always does all his school work and helps me when I need it. And he always has my back. And he makes me food. And listens to me ramble. Andhe'skindahot,waitdidIjustsaythat?!"

"Ummm, what?" Sky asked hesitantly, somehow looking even more confused. "Did you just say that. .?"

"No!" Nora yelled angrily at him, face flushing. "I didn't say anything like that!"

"I didn't say anything, Valkyrie," Sky stated, looking half like he was terrified and half like he wanted to laugh or tease her. "But it sounded like you said-"

"Don't finish that sentence!" A hammer appeared, it's owner trying to look threatening as her face turned her favorite color.

"That he was-" Sky finished, the last word being blurbed out of existence by a half embarrassed, half angered squeal. Magnhild slammed into the ground next to Sky, Nora slumping down next to it a second later, looking thoroughly flustered.

"Hey, hey, I'm sorry! I was just teasing, mate." Sky quickly stammered, sitting down next to her.

The orange haired girl just sat there, embarrassment plastered across her face. 'How'd I let something like that slip?' She scolded herself mentally. 'Stupid, stupid, stupid!'

After several astoundingly long seconds, Sky awkwardly cleared his throat. "So, you like him?"

A small nod.

"Er, well. . ." Sky briefly wondered how'd gotten himself into this mess. Wasn't Ren supposed to be giving him(ITAL) relationship advice?! "Have you told him, mate?"

Nora shook her head frantically. "Only Pyrrha knows."

"Why not?" Sky had actually made the assumption that they already were a couple, just unofficially. Apparently not.

"Because that'd be stupid!" Nora snapped, frowning. "Ren doesn't like me like that. We're not together together. He hasn't made any sign that the feeling is mutual."

"But-" Sky started only to be cut off.

"Don't tell say anything!" Nora's hand tightened on Magnhild as an unspoken threat.

"But when are _you_ going to tell him?"

"I'm not," Nora sighed softly, hugging her knees. "He's my best friend and I don't want to risk it. I don't want to make a gap between us. He's to important to risk that because I'm want something more when he doesn't..."

Long seconds ticked by, neither of them saying anything. Seconds turned to minutes, a semi awkward, semi contemplative silence having fallen between the two.

The sound of a stick snapping broke the silence and both students turned to look at the disturbance. Nora's face lit up and Sky waved in greeting as Ren walked over to them.

"Reeeen!" Nora squealed, quickly hugging him. "You're back! What happened? Were you in trouble? Why'd he have to talk to you? What happened?"

"Calm down, Nora." Ren smiled, nodding in greeting at Sky. "I'm fine, not in trouble. Professor Port was just ordered by the nurse to check on me before letting me go on this mission. Oh, and Lark, Velvet's waiting for you with the rest of the group. We're supposed to head there so everybody can start heading out."

Sky nodded, opening his mouth to say something but was cutoff by an excited Nora pulling them towards the rest of the students. Relationship drama was being left behind them for now...

Now, it was time to slay some Grimm.

* * *

Author's Note; Sorry for such a late update! This has been sitting in my documents for a while and I finally went to post it and realized that I hadn't finished it...O_o. So that's my excuse, sorry guys. I hope you enjoyed it and I'll try to get another update once I am less busy. Baldore out!

PS. After a review, pointing out that through some of Sky's dialog made him seem stupid (Not what I was going for), I realized that that was true. So, I edited it a bit and I hope he was toned down a bit here. :)


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six; Grimm Days

* * *

As the Ursa roared, Ren tightened his grip on Storm Flower. Nora just laughed, twirling Magnhild like it was a feather.

Before the two could even exchange strategy's, the Grimm pawed the ground angrily before charging. The great beast would be upon them in seconds. But it would never reach its mark.

It'd barely made three steps before being pelted by, the hunter in training emptying shots into the creature. As it staggered back, stunned, there was an explosion of pink that procedded Nora slamming her hammer into the Ursa's head, finishing the brief fight.

"Ah, it broke already?" Nora asked, somehow managing to frown while smiling. "I wanted to fight more."

"Nora, Ursas are still-nevermind," Ren sighed. The two of them had already been searching for the Dust crystals for a good four hours and the deadline was rapidly approaching. And they had nothing to show for it, except some low grade Dust that was collected simply for its pink color. Yet none of the other groups they had encountered seemed to have any trouble. "Nora, were almost out of time. . .any ideas on where to try?"

"Oh, we could look by the rivers! Or the caves! No, not the caves. According to _'A brief History of Remnant_' the Opal Outskirts' caves are infested with Grimm. Not cute ones either. Ugly ones. They probably don't even like pink. Hoooooooow about we try the Black Trees? No one else will be there! To the trees, Ren!"

"Nora, the trees are off limits. .. "

"Nope!" Nora answered happily. "We were told not to _touch_ them. We're allowed to got over to them though!"

"Nora, I don't think this is a good idea," Ren stated as he was dragged to closer to the Black Forest.

"You're right," Nora said a split second before her eyes lit up and she picked up speed. "It's a great one! We're going to get the most Dust of everybody and win!"

"But it's not a contest, Nora."

"Which makes it perfect! It means no one will expect us to win!" Nora giggled. "They'll never see it coming! It's the perfect plan."

As Nora spouted her usually off the wall theory, if one could call it a theory, Ren cracked one of his rare smiles from it. "Just like eating the Forever Fall sap?"

"Weeeeeeeeell," Nora cocked her head, remembering the incident. After consuming several jars of the stuff, her stomach had been rather upset the next day. She only left the bathroom once the entire day and kept a continuous stream of groans to provide the rest of Team JNPR with a background soundtrack. "It'll be better than that. It's not like we're gonna _eat_ the Dust."

Having no other argument that could be considered logical by Nora, Ren followed. She'd need help, after all.

* * *

"What are you two doing here?" Came Sky's accusing voice as Ren and Nora entered their intended destination.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Nora shot back cheerfully.

"Looking for Dust. We couldn't find any decent crystals anywhere else," Velvet provided quietly, smiling as she nervously fiddled with the box that she stored her weapon in. "What about you two?"

"Same," Ren said, sheathing Storm Flower, the deadly green pistols snapping back into his sleeves. (Also causing Sky to wonder how many times he had to practice that before making it look that easy) "We just got here, though."

"Right," Sky said, looking around and then double checking his scroll. "Well, we've only got an hour-ish before we're supposed to meet back at the ships. You two want to team up until then?"

Nora got a contemplative look on her as she thought about the offer. "Well, I guess we could. But Ren and I get any pink dust crystals! And we-"

"That's a yes," Ren said, resisting an eye roll.

"Wait," Velvet said, stopping Ren before he could say anything else. "Nora, we won't find any pink Dust."

"And why not?"

"Because pink Dust is extremely rare and explosively reactive. It's famous for going off when it's not supposed to, since the slightest impact can cause an explosion." Velvet explained. "It explodes naturally most of the time before it can be mined."

"We got some though already! Look!" Nora grinned showing the sack that held the pink Dust crystals.

"Nora!" Velvet sounded shocked, eyes widening. "Those are highly dangerous explosives. You need to be careful with them."

"Ahhhh, lighten up!" Nora grinned widely. "They're not going to blow. You know me! I'm extremely careful!"

As if the universe felt the need to prove that statement wrong, a crystal suddenly tumbled out of Nora's grasp. Everyone instinctively sucked in breath as it hit the ground, rolled before coming to a rest next to a tree with black bark.

The group sighed almost in unison, relieved at the lack of a 'boom!'

Then explosion knocked the group off their feet.

As they slowly got back up, the ground seem to shake for a second.

"What was tha-oh, _Dust_."

As the swear was spoken, the black tree nearest them lifted out of the ground, followed by the next closest. dirt tumbled and fell from the massive trunks as they decided to deny gravity and seemingly start flying.

The black trees weren't trees at all.

They were Grimm.

The four Hunters' eyes slowly traveled up the Grimm. It was quite the menacing creature, looming over the forest and the group. It was vaguely humanoid, made out of almost pitch black trees. It looked like a walking tree. A very deadly, very angry tree.

It creaked as it rose, limbs groaning and complaining as got to its feet, angry red eyes glaring down at the Beacon Students as they drew their weapons.

There was a tense silence as the Grimm blinked several times, as if waking from a long slumber. Which, actually, seemed to be quite likely. And it didn't look happy with it's rude awakening.

"It's huge!" Sky stared, stating the obvious as if the others hadn't noticed. Suddenly, the blue haired boy felt extremely under prepared with just his sword. He quickly recovered as the massive creature let loose a furious roar.

As the creature's massive fist hurtled towards them, the hunters sprung into action. Nora twisted Magnehild into its gun form, pelting a continuous rain of grenades down onto the Grimm. Ren flipped backwards, rapidly firing at the creatures face while slashed at it with his sword and Velvet covered him.

But the attacks did little but to seemingly irritate the beast. It retracted its fist before bellowing a another challenge, practically ignoring the attacks being dealt to him as it slammed both fists down creating a shockwave bag knocked them all off their feet.

"We need a plan," Velvet announced to her allies, rolling back to her feet and launching another barrage of magic. The Faunas was surprisingly skilled, even for a student at the prestigious Beacon.

"Agreed," Ren stated coolly, slashing at the Grimm's arm as it tried to grab him. "There's a weak spot where it's neck meets its torso."

"On it!" Nora grinned, launching herself into the air.

"Wait, not yet!"

The warning had barely left Ren's lips when the giant's fist snapped up. It connected with the airborne Nora and sent her hurtling away.

She didn't even have time to scream before colliding with a nearby tree with a sickening crunch. Her body crumpled and eyes flickered shut. As she lay still, it became near impossible to make out the state of the normally bubbly girl.

"Nora!" Ren's panicked shout cut through the forest. His body tensed to run and check on her biu he felt a hand on his shoulder, stopping him. He quickly spun to face it's owner, rare fury on his normally composed face. "Lark?"

"She's fine," Sky stated, shaking his head. "We can't have you stopping to check on her or we'll all end up like that!"

Ren took a deep breath and realized that Sky was right. If they didn't handle the Grimm . . ."Do you have a plan then, Lark?"

"Matter of fact, I do," Sky grinned, quickly outlining his plan.

Velvet backpedaled from the oncoming fist, whipping her weapon up to blast the Grimm up. She was holding the creature off for the moment, having the advantage of speed and swiftness, but was clearly tiring.

"Ready, Ren?" Sky grinned expertly twirling his sword as Velvet backed off, having bought them the needed time. The green clad warrior nodded, firing two rapid bursts to get their opponents it's attention.

It immediately spun at them, letting loose something akin to growl. Spotting the causes if its slumber being interrupted and pain, it brought each of it's great fists down at them. Fortunately, the two hunters were faster and easily leapt out of the way before each charging up one if the massive arms.

The Grimm roared, trying to fling or smash them off but the hunters kept their balance and continued their task. After reaching the beast's shoulders, Ren hefted the bag of Dust that he'd been carrying off his shoulder and hurled it at Sky. The throw was deftly caught, the hunter who received it unpacking his sword through it and into the Grimm's neck, tethering the bag to its weak spot.

"Now!" Sky yelled as the duo threw themselves off the Grimm. Once they were clear, a blast of magic from Velvet slammed into the bag.

The force of the resulting explosion blew everyone off their feet and all but incinerated the Grimm, flaming black wood cascading from the sky. The battle was won.

But at what price?

* * *

_Author's Note_; To start, I'm so sorry for the delay. Writer's Block, time restraints, real life, lack of support, no wifi and other factors have seriously hindered all my writing progress, (And slightly shorter than normal chapter...) so thank you so much for your patience and dedication. It means loads to me. BUT, this update conveniently fell on the day after Volume Two boots up so hey, great timing, right? (Emerald and Mercury seem to add a nice new pace to things, Sun's friend, well, awesome and the episode was just awesome overall.) :P Also, this story will be wrapping up. . .soon-ish but I have grown so fond of this universe, expect more stories. Oh, and tidbits on this chapter. I had Nora make the reference to the book to show that she's not just a bubbly person. She seems actually rather intelligent in the show and sometimes I feel thatgets skimmed over. Also, Nora gets hurt in this because *Spoiler removed* and because it always seems to be Ren who gets hurt in a fanfic. He's a freaking boss (Not that Nora isn't) and so I thought I would switch it up a bit. (Yeah, a little cliché but. . .well, it's fun to write. . .) Until next update, Baldore out!


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven; Messages, Musing and Sleep

* * *

Ren stared at the bed, expression blank. His mind swirled with a wrenching sense of guilt as he stared at his partner laying injured in the Beacon Med Bay. It was his fault he knew.

"Mr. Lie. . ."

If hadn't agreed with Nora to search for Dust in the more dangerous sections of the Outskirts.

"Mr. Lie."

He should have just said no. But dang it, he could never say no to Nora. She just-

"Mr. Lie!"

"What?" The bewildered student was shocked out of his state, still to concerned over his partner to really be concerned over what the nurse was telling him.

"Mr. Lie," The nurse sighed, checking her scroll. "You've been in here since Miss. Valkyrie was brought in yesterday afternoon. You haven't had any sleep that I could tell and it's been almost eighteen hours. You need some rest."

"Not until she wakes up," Ren shook his head, fatigue from the lack of rest making the action sluggish. In all honesty, he felt like he was about to crash at any second but was determined to pull through it.

"You get some rest." The nurse stated sternly, crossing her arms. "I promise that you'll be the first to be told if Miss Valkyrie's condition changes."

"With all due respect, I'd prefer to be here when my partner wakes up." Ren remained seated beside the bedside. "She wouldn't leave me and I have no intention of leaving her."

"Fine but I do not want another patient being checked in for sleep deprivation of all things." Ren received a stern glare from the nurse. But with one final sigh of frustration, the nurse left, leaving Ren the room silent.

Well, close enough to silent as it ever was.

The air was only disturbed by Nora's steady, unconscious breathing, Ren's calming breaths and the palpable concern. After a brief pause, when it became apparent that Nora was still out cold, the green clad warrior flicked his scroll on. He had to keep up with class work after all.

However, he had several unread messages that delayed school. Several messages from Yang, Blake, Ruby and even a short one from Weiss with well wishes. (Ruby's came with a promise of cookies for his hyperactive partner upon recovery.) Juane and Pyrrha had left slightly longer ones, in addition to their frequent visits. One from Velvet as well.

But the one that stood out the most was easily Sky's.

"-ne second. I'm leaving a message," The blue haired Cardinal shimmered into the scrolls screen, yelling at someone offscreen. "Crap, already recording."

"So, hey there Lie. It's Lark. . .obviously. Well, I just wanted to leave you a message since I can't be there in person." He sighed, shaking his head. "First things first. I know that you said that it wasn't my fault but I'm sorry for what happened. I know, I know, not anybody's fault but I still feel partially responsible for what happened. I hope she gets better soon."

"Next, I've gotta say thanks. Velvet finally agreed to go to the Dance with me." Sky admitted with a grin. "After your advice, I kept at it. Turns out you were right about, well, pretty much the whole spiel. Thanks, mate."

"Which brings me to my last thing. Lie, mate, I feel I owe ya. So because of that, we need to have this chat. You, Lie Ren, are a completely dense, thick skulled, brainless, oblivious and outright _stupidest_ person I have ever known."

That earned a snort from Ren.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. 'Perfect student' and all. But mate, you're an idiot. 'Why, why?' You ask. Here's why. With all the time you spend with Nora, you've managed to ignore her at the same time. Well, mostly."

"Ren, it take's a special kind of clueless to miss all those hints. Mate, when Nora's around, she's...well, I'm not actually sure. More at ease with you. Happier, I guess than when I see otherwise. Mate, she's _glued_ to you when you're together. And you're oblivious to it! I freakin' noticed and I'm _terrible_ with social stuff."

Sky Lark was in full blown rant mode now. "And then you! I know you better than I do Nora. And when she's not around, you're listless. You seem tired. Inattentive. All that. And then your partner shows up and it's like someone flipped a switch. You're suddenly more jovial, alive and just generally happier. You say you're just friends but your actions seem to suggest otherwise."

Ren's face was set into a deep frown at that. As if sensing that, Sky made calming gestures with his hand and continued.

"Alright, alright, that might've been overstepping things. Sorry. But definitely to think about-" Sky was suddenly cut short as sword passed over his head. Somewhere out of sight of the scroll someone yelled something to the effect 'surprise training session!' Sky quickly muttered an apology as the screen shook and went black.

Ren starred blankly at the empty screen, brain frozen. After time resumed from the sluggish pace it'd adopted during the shock, the black haired hunter's head spun. The message had actually sent him reeling.

Ren glanced at Nora, calmly unconscious on the bed.

Did he. . .

No. He didn't. Of course not. They were partners, best friends. Nothing more.

But did he want something. . . more?

Ren shook his head, trying to get a hold over all the emotions rising up inside of him. Affection, confusion, fear rose up in him. Not to say that he normally was emotionless but simply the _idea_ of dating. . .

No!

Dang it, when did his train of thought start to head in that direction?

Though. . .

Ren clasped his head in his hands. When, or rather why, had things changed? When did Nora become more than just his best friend and partner?

And there it was. Ren had said it. Er, thought it. And the thought sounded. . . pleasant.

Ren gave a violent shake of his head, as if trying to forcefully and violently dislodge the thought. They were friends. Good friends. Best friends. As Nora was fond of saying together but not _'together'_ together. But the thought was locked in there.

It crept though his mind, slowly permeating his thoughts. If Ren had been honest with himself, he would admit that this sudden revelation wasn't anything new. But he'd just never taken a moment to take stock of his emotions. Which resulted in the sudden torrent of feelings.

"Ren?"

The sound of Nora's voice caused his to snap to look at her. The orange haired girl seemed calm for once, a Grimm throwing you into a tree can do that, and she rubbed her head as she looked around the room that she currently inhabited.

"Where. . . am I?"

"Beacon's recovery wing," Ren answered simply. He sighed, relieved that Nora was alright. But...it bothered him at how calm she was. She wasn't bouncing off the wall, in perpetual movement or running her mouth. She seemed to be missing her Nora-ness.

"Ren? What happened? I don't remember anything after the Grimm..."

"It knocked you out," Ren tightened his fists subconsciously. "The rest of if us dispatched it and we brought you back here. You've been out since that. "

"Oh."

A nod.

"Hey, Ren?"

"What?"

Nora seemed a little bit out of it. Possibly some of the healing procedures she'd undergone. They did sometimes cause different reactions in patients. In Nora's case, he guessed it'd made her more. . . calm. And sleepy, apparently. The girl looked about ready to fall asleep again as she scotched to the edge of the bed and leaned her head on Ren's shoulder. "I didn't miss the dance, did I? You still have to. . . take me to the dance. . ."

"No, Nora. You didn't miss it," Ren smiled at her as she dozed off. She looked peaceful this time, in contrast to the pained expression from earlier.

That's how the nurse found them a half hour later. Nora out cold, head propped gently on her partner's shoulder and Ren gazing out a window. After consulting her notes, then Ren, and her notes once more she woke Nora. After a brief checkup, physical, scolding and instructions, the nurse wearily cleared Nora to leave. Under a strict zero-activity policy of course.

"I'll go fetch some supports-"

"No need," Ren said simply, carefully scooping Nora up princess style out of the bed. "I can carry her back to the dorms."

The nurse looked displeased at this but didn't stop him.

Nora grinned happily but was to tired for further action.

Ren, par usual, looked impassive.

Except for, if you squinted, a small smile quirking at his lips.

Nora snuggled deeper into his arms as they trekked back to the dorms. "Ren?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

* * *

_Author's Note_; Alright, I'm back with another update. Finally. I hope you enjoyed it, despite the delay. I really enjoyed writing a bit of internal struggle for Ren of him questioning his and Nora's relationship and a passive, non-hyperactive Nora. And I just have to say thank you as this story gets closer to the end. (Only a few more chapters at most.) This is easily my most popular story and I really appreciate all the support from you all. It means the world to me to get another review or follower and it makes my week when I get a review or PM. So, thank you. Until next update, Baldore, out.

Ps. Yeah, I'm taking some bragging rights that I called the prom before they had it in Season Two. (And also on that note, I know, Sky has the Halberd, not the sword. I'll edit that soon.)


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight; Prom

* * *

"Nora?"

"Yeeeeeees, Ren?"

"Just what exactly are you doing?"

"Getting ready for the dance."

"And how exactly is that helping?"

Nora stopped jumping on her bed. Or rather flung herself off it in Ren's general direction. Backwards.

He easily caught her and set her down again with a sigh.

"I'm breaking in my heels before the dance! It's not everyday that we get a chance to dress up. Or dance. So I have to be ready in case of dancing at the dance!" Nora beamed, as if that somehow explained why she was jumping on her bed seconds before. Not that that was unusual.

Actually, it would have probably been unusual had she not been up to her normal antics.

"Ah." Was all Ren supplied in response. The JNPR member seemed tired. Though hid it so well, it was unlikely to be noticed-

"Ren? Aren't you listening to me?" Nora waved a hand in front of her spaced out comrade. "You've been so spacey lately, Ren."

It was true. Since Nora's bout with the Grimm, Ren had been more distant to her. Spacey, tired, and. . . cautious would even apply. It was like he'd been wresting with some internal debate. She figured that he probably felt responsible for a team-mate getting injured.

But what bothered Nora was that he wouldn't tell(ITAL) her what was wrong. And that was not(ITAL) acceptable. What part 'tell each other everything' did he not understand?

"Reeeeen? Remnant to Reeeeeen! "

"Yeah, yeah, sorry. Just stressed by. . . studying." Ren supplied, shrugging unconvincing.

Nora's face was suddenly just a half inch away from her partner's. She peered deeply into Ren's eyes. Ren calmly met the interrogatory gaze steadily, resisting the urge to swallow nervously.

Nora's eyes narrowed and she opened her mouth.

'This is it,' Ren thought. 'She's going to call me out and-'

"Boop!"

"Huh?"

"Boop!"

Ren stared dumbly as she giggled in her usual Nora-isk fashion. Then suddenly, a realization hit both of them like a train at full steam.

Their close proximity.

Their eyes locked, noses nearly brushing. . .

As if against their own violation, they slowly moved closer. Closer until-

"Ren, Nora! Are you guys ready yet?" Juane, their glorious leader came into the team room before blushing and coming to a screeching halt. "Oh, uh, am I interrupting something?"

"No, you're not," Ren briskly straightened his already immaculate suit.

"Dancing time!" Nora squealed, spinning after her teammates.

The dance awaited.

!  
Ren entered the dance with Nora latched onto his arm, head resting on his shoulder. He wasn't exactly when it'd happened but at some point along the way she'd latched on, looping their arms together. Almost like a couple would do. . .

No, it wasn't like that. Just Nora being Nora. Nothing new there, Ren sighed.

But the dance left no time for thought, for as soon as they breached the entry, they all became distracted. Pyrrha went to help with decorations and the like. Juane gravitated awkwardly towards the punch bowl. Nora. . .well, was Nora. She bounced around, not really settling on one task. Drinking punch, talking to friends, cheerfully threatening to break various body parts of varying students, staring intently at everything, babbling to Ren himself and generally just being her hyperactive self.

And so the students of Beacon settled into a rhythm, pun intended, as the dance wore on.

"Hey, Mate!"

"Lark, you made it." Ren greeted the CRDL member warmly. Rather, as warm as his greetings ever were. Which was pretty much a nod.

"Same goes for you, Lye," Sky retorted, punching Ren's arm in jest. "I'm surprised you came. The level of enthusiasm you displayed last time this came up was on par with discussing one's favorite pet dying."

"I wasn't that bad," Ren snorted, swirling the punch he'd acquired earlier. "And I'm only here due to Ruby and her team spear heading this event. And you know how it works. What RWBY does, JNPR does."

"And Nora, right?" Sky grinned,

"And Nora."

"So, are you two dating yet?"

Ren spat his punch out of shock at the question. Sky knew better. "We're not-"

"-dating, just best friends." Sky finished, shacking his head. "Mate, that's what you keep sayin' but nobodies buyin' it, you know."

"People don't always believe the truth," Ren stated, trying to recover from being blindsided. Which bothered him because he was used to the question, so why was it bothering him now? He mentally sighed and attempted to move the attention away from himself. "What about Velvet?"

"Hey, don't dodge the question." Sky realized, crossing his arms.

An arched eyebrow from Ren.

"She agreed." Sky states, smiling widely.

"Then where is she?"

"Ah, well, once we got here, she said that she had to go talk to her team." Lark sighed, motioning to said team that was talking in hushed tones across the room. "So, yeah. Mixed signals."

"Then why don't you go talk to her?" Ren inquired, sipping a cup of punch that he'd acquired. "She did agree to come to the dance with you. It can't hurt to at least talk to her."

"Well, I was trying to give her some space. . ."

"How long's she been over there?"

"Uh, pretty much the entire time."

"Just go talk to her," Ren sighed.

"Fine. You haven't steered me wrong yet." Lark agreed, taking a sole step in the direction of the team before pausing. "On the condition that you confront Nora."

"About what?" The green garbed hunter deadpanned.

"About your feelings."

"Fine." Ren lied, straight faced, humoring Sky. The other teen obviously sensed the lie but just smirked and excused himself.

Once alone again, or at least as alone as he could be in the middle of a room full of partying teenagers, he contemplated life over his cup of punch. One aspect in particular. An orange haired, easily excited aspect. He bad his reason for keeping things as they. Things like they were nice. They were safe. They were-

"Ren!" Nora shouted, somehow having made her way behind him without his noticing and actually managing to almost startle him.

"Ren, you've been over here the ent_iiiiire_ dance. Come on!" Nora pleaded, grabbing his arm. Her statement of fact, as it turned out, was actually fiction. In fact, Ren had already danced with all of team RWBY, Pyrrha, Nora, Velvet among students that he hadn't even known. From an upbeat jive with Yang, a waltz with Weiss (and one with Nora, the latter being rather more painfull), the full team JNPR show (With their glorious leader wearing a dress.), among numerous, numerous other dances. Really the only ones he'd avoided like the plague were any slow dances.

"Nora, I've danced plenty." Ren stated, not particularly keen in being dragged back out onto the floor again.

"One more dance, partner?" Nora asked, large green orbs pleading for him to say yes. Just as Ren was about to turn her down, she softly added an extra "Please?"

Ren stayed silent but nonetheless followed his partner onto the dance floor. Not much could be done to sway her once she'd made up her mind. Unless he had food to bribe her with. . .which he didn't.

And that narrowed his options to dancing with Nora. The overzealous girl led him by the hand into the dance floor among the dancers. Nora stopped as the next song started, grinning cheekily.

The first slow dance of the night drifted out from the prom's loudspeakers.

Ren caught a glimpse of Juane and Neptune exiting the dance as he turned to glare at Nora. He did not want to slow dance.

Notes seeped lazily onto the dance floor, prompting all the present dancers to take their partner's hand. Ren did so, his normally collected and calm self feeling almost panicky, anxious or jittery. Or a combination of the three.

Nora was surprisingly quiet as the dance began. Ren moved almost instinctively (slow dancing had been something his parents had insisted he learned at a young age) and lead the dance easily. Though he quickly noticed that Nora was having trouble keeping the rhythm of the dance but was making up for that with a wide smile and enthusiasm.

Despite the pain of having his feet being stepped on when Nora missed a step, Ren found himself enjoying the dance. Not because of the song or dance or cheesy decorations.

But because of his company.

Sometimes, with everything Nora put him though, he forgot how much he cared for her. He forgot that she had her quiet moments, rare as they were.

So he relinquished himself to the dance. He felt himself relax, falling in line with Nora. Slowly, he became aware that as he leant forward, his forehead met Nora's and remained that way.

"...Ren..." Nora muttered softly, all but his name escaping Ren's notice.

"Ren, I...I need to talk to you." As soon as the words left her mouth, Ren felt a pang in his chest. He shook it off though as the duo made their way out to a balcony as the music faded.

The night was surprisingly pleasant. A gentle breeze floated across the balcony, the music and rabble of the party was but a dull roar and the atmosphere was relaxed.

Nora propped her elbows on the railing and rested her chin in her hands. Ren stood next to her, silence filling the air. It was deafening.

None of Nora's constant rants.

No background explosions.

No sloth calls.

And Ren missed it.

He loved peace and quiet, he loved spending time with Nora. But when those two opposites combined it was...odd, to say the least. Ren cleared his throat.

"Nora?"

Nora sighed happily, turning away from the night sky and facing him.

"Ren, I need to tell you something," Said partner swallowed nervously as Nora crossed her arms and looked at him.

He knew it. He'd blown it. He knew he hadn't hidden how he felt well.

"So we've been he's friends forever. Like, forever forever. But lately, things have been...different..."

Nora paused. Ren felt a black pit in his stomach. She knew and didn't feel the same way. Dust, was she going to terminate their friendship?

Some part of Ren, the logical piece, knew that there was no way that that was a possibility. But the thought had popped in so unexpectedly and now Ren was in the grip of fear.

Them he did something he never would have expected. He didn't know what prompted him to do it and probably never would. But the urge swept him up in a sudden wave that he couldn't resist.

Ren leant forward, kissing Nora full on the lips.

And she returned the gesture.

Seconds ticked lazily until they both leant back, faces redder than Ruby's cape. Neither spoke immediately. The silence engulfed then in a simultaneously awkward and !comfterable! silence. The muffled sounds of the party drifted through the air, keeping the moment from being completely quiet.

Then Nora giggled. The hugged him, kissing him once more.

"What...?" Ren mumbled.

"Boop," Nora laughed, smiling widely.

Ren cracked a rare smile at that, denial slowly giving to joy. Nora recuperated his feelings, and it seemed she'd felt the same for a while, and all was well. Better than well, actually.

It had taken him a while but he'd finally how much he truly loved his partner. Eccentricities and all. As cliched as it was, Nora meant the world to him.

As Nora grabbed his hand tightly, he thought about just how lucky he was.

He was really working the cliché guy train, huh? He thought, smile still plastered on him as Nora leant her head onto his shoulder.

"Took you long enough," The girl said lightly.

Ren looked at her incredulously. " Nora?"

"I said it took you long enough," She giggled, staring at the sky. Ren had to make a conscious effort to focus on what she was saying, instead of staring at the way the moonlight caught her eyes. "I've been in love with you...well, a while now. What do you think 'boop' meant?"

The casual admittance of it through Ren for a loop. He almost missed part of her point. "So all those times you've 'booped' me...?"

"Yup."

"Oh." Perspective really changed things.

Then Nora tugged him towards the door. The green clad warrior followed slowly, unwilling to leave, wanting to stay and simply enjoy Nora's company. But she grinned and yanked him along. "Reeeeen, if we stay out here any longer, the punch will be gone. And the others are probably wondering where we are."

"Right," He agreed reluctantly. "But one thing first."

"What?" Nora's head cocked sideways and her eyes glistened with curiosity.

Ren reached out with his hand, lightly poking her on the forehead.

"Boop."

* * *

Author's Note; Jeez, that was a long wait. Sorry about that. I hope you guys still enjoy this! This chapter had a lot of inspiration dawn from the song 'Boop' from the Volume Two album. I highly suggest checking it out. Anyway, I might have one more chapter for this. I hope you've enjoyed the ride. Until next update, Baldore out.


	9. Epilogue

Epilogue

* * *

Ren let StormFlower shoot back into his sleeves, panting heavily. The training session Pyrrha had been intense. He hadn't had a break throughout the whole two hour training session.

It seemed she was working out some pent up feelings.

The bright side was that the red head now seemed to be in a better mood. The downside was that Ren would probably remain sore for the next two or so days. That girl could pack a punch. Maybe not as much as Nora in terms of sheer power but the rapid succession of hits had a sort of synergistic pain. Though, Phrrha hadn't escaped unscathed herself.

As the team spartan turned to leave with little more than a nod in his direction, Ren frowned. And then did something rather out of character. Or at least vocalizing it. "Pyrrha, is everything alright?"

"Huh?" The redhead had something flicked across before giving a half hearted smile and laugh. "Yeah, of course it is. I'm just a little stressed is all. Exams, extra training, the upcoming tourney I'm supposed to participate in..."

Ren said nothing but his look told enough.

"It's nothing to do with Juane, it that's what you're implying." Pyrrha said quickly, her face trying to camouflage itself to her hair. "It's really not. He's a great team leader and there's nothing wrong."

Ren didn't say anything.

"I mean, he's a good guy," She rambled on, now waving he'd arms frantically in front of her. "Dense as a brick, a lead one at that, but I mean, I still like him. Not like, like like him or something. It's good to be together with him! A-as partners, I mean! We're not, you know, together together."

She was starting to sound like Nora, Ren noted dryly. And he had his hands full with just one of his girlfriend.

"Well, I wouldn't mind that though. . . " Pyrrha said, working herself into a second blush all by herself. "Not that he could see it! I mean, it wouldn't kill him to notice, would it! Though, the whole dress thing. . . maybe the feeling is mutual. . . "

"Ren, how did you woo Nora?"

Said teammate snorted. He hadn't done anything, it'd been all Nora. Well, maybe it had been him some. Thinking back, the moment of truth was a bit fuzzy in his memory. The rush of the moment and all.

"Never mind, you two basically just confessed, right? Anyway," Pyrrha continued, nodding as if she'd realized something. "Thanks for all your help, Ren!"

"Anytime," The black and pink haired hunter in training sighed. He watched the red head all but run out and hoped that she wouldn't be to hard on Juane. Though, he had the feeling that they'd be a couple by the time they got back to the room, joining the ranks of 'Sky Bunny' and 'Rennora', as Nora had starting calling the Sky and Velvett couple and themselves respectively.

"Reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen!" Nora cried slamming into him, enclosing him in a bear hug and giving him a chaste kiss. Ren briefly noted ever since they'd (_officially_) started dating, she'd been much more affectionate. Not that she hadn't been before. . . but it was different now. Not that Ren minded.

Not that he'd admit that, of course. His manly pride was on the line. hardened, gun toting hunters don't like overly affectionate hugs and the like in public, right? So Ren wouldn't admit it. Dust, if Juane or Sun ever found out. . .

"Hey, Nora."

"That's all I get?" Nora pouted. "Well, I do love that you're all stoic. It adds to your charm. Though you could be more huggable. Actually, you're really huggable. You just don't initiate the hugs. Like a Sloth. Huggable but not a hug initiator. You should be a hug initiator, Ren. Everyone loves a hug initiator. But! Then I'd have to share! Don't be a hug initiator, Ren! Channel the sloth!"

It took all of Ren's willpower not to just facepalm at his girlfriend's rant. He swore, she could babble about anything. Seriously, anything. Or nothing. Once she got started, nothing stopped her.

No matter how much some people wished it were otherwise. Ren was occasionally one himself.

Only occasionally.

"Whatcha thinking about, Ren?" Nora inquired, leaning in close and bursting his personal space bubble. "You're staaaaaaring."

"Just thinking, Nora." Ren huffed, waving his hand. She was such a handful. Sometimes he wondered why he put up with it. It would be so much simpler to just not, just to snap at her, just once.

"What if I don't believe you? Hmmmm? What if you're plotting? Planning? Conniving?!"

"Thinking."

"About making me pancakes later? That's what I would be thinking about if I were you. Or maybe something all stoic. Do you _think_ stoically? Hmmmmmmmmm, you should think out loud more. Then, we can know the answer to that question. And I could get pancakes."

"Nora-"

"Paaaaaancakes, Ren. Picture it. Pancakes."

"You just had them-"

"Glorious, golden pancakes, Ren. Fluffy and tasty, covered in delicious syrup. . . "

The puppy dog face. Dang it. He'd thought he'd become immune to her feminine wiles. But no, she still had the stinking puppy dog face. He would gamble that it would even melt a Grimm's nonexistent heart.

"Fine, I'll make pancakes."

"Yay!" Nora squealed before unceremoniously picking up her boyfriend and sprinting back to the room.

Ren couldn't hold back a laugh at it. She was as excitable but after the adventure, from the pancakes to the prom to the Grimm, they'd gotten closer. Not just boyfriend and girlfriend, closer as friends and partners too.

Now Ren just hoped he survive the loving, lovable, hyperactive, pink tornado-of-excitement of a girlfriend.

* * *

Author's Note; So, the thought struck me, why not an epilogue? Show something afterwards? And then I realized,i really don't think to much would change between Nora and Ren, really, so I wanted to show that. I know this is rather short but it was fun to write and I didn't think anyone would be apposed to another chapter. (And I don't know if/when I'll write another RWBY story...) So thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the ride, Baldore out!


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